Nowadays cars are frequently equipped with alarm systems for deterring thieves and vandals. There are also systems that can be used to alarm, for instance using the horn of the car, in the case of an emergency. Furthermore systems are known which can alarm by contacting an alarm centre via mobile communication.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,310,543 discloses such a system where an alarm system can be activated by a person in the car pressing an emergency call button. With the emergency call button depressed, an emergency call is sent by way of an integrated mobile phone to an alarm centre. The emergency call may include information about the position and travelling direction of the car.
The article “Airbags bei Citroen senden Notruf” in Netzeitung.de of 2 May 2005 describes a similar system for sending an emergency call. This system, which is integrated in a system for navigation, hi-fi and mobile telephony, makes it possible to send an emergency call to an alarm system either automatically in the case of an accident, or by a user pressing a button in the system.
A drawback of these systems is that the availability of the emergency call system is relatively limited. This means that the personal safety for the individual may suffer since the emergency call system cannot be activated in all emergencies.